Police in Kenya say they have arrested 77 Chinese nationals who were allegedly running an elaborate money-laundering and Internet-fraud scheme from multiple houses.

Ndegwa Muhoro, a top police official, says an investigation is under way in the case which has the attention of the highest levels of the Kenyan government.

Two Kenyan Cabinet ministers on Wednesday visited one of the houses in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi where police made the arrests over the past four days. The Chinese ambassador was summoned to the foreign affairs ministry over the arrests.

The Chinese suspects had equipment capable of hacking into government computer servers, according to the Daily Nation newspaper.